Food Glorious Food recommendation

Dannytan wrote:

Hi All,

One big reason for deciding to live in Vietnam is the food. So fresh and delicious, varieties and flavorful. From a simple but fresh spring roll to the classic pho is really amazing. I am leaving now at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Mac Dinh Chi area. Can anybody recommend some good food and restaurant to me around the area will be great. It does not matter is street food, local fast food or formal nice dining as long as the food is wonderful.

ciao'
danny

I was as surprised as anyone but while some food is better here, I think overall I had better Vietnamese food in Seattle.  The bánh mì were qualitatively better, the chicken wasn't pink inside and I didn't have to look at feet and heads (sorry, but while I eat fish heads, chicken heads and feet are just disgusting), hotpots were tastier, crispy noodle was better.

The only food that's consistently better here is egg noodle soup. 

I lived on Vietnamese food for 15 years before moving here.  If I ever go back to USA for a visit, once I've revisited salads and Mexican food I'll be eating in Vietnamese restaurants to have some decent food again.

I was walking on Mac Dinh Chi street the other day and thought of trying the chicken noodle soup. From the local customers savoring the bowl of chicken noodle soup thought of trying but then I have eaten. I bet in the good old US of A everything is good. But here definitely have the authentic and genuine local dishes that may be more delightful.

Oh, make no mistake, there's a variety here that wasn't possible in the USA.  Many kinds of fish and fruit I never ate there.  On the other hand I never found a worm in my veggies in the USA. 

I love the street food here, the grilled pork on rice, pretty good noodles most anywhere.  I like going out for cơm tấm at 11PM.  And even there one had to know where to go for the best food, different restaurants for different dishes.  There's only one place in Cần Thơ if you want bún bò Huế. 

But in Seattle I could go out for mì xào giòn hải sản and get a dish that I can't come close to here, not even close, with fresher and crispier noodles, a richer sauce, and a satisfying portion. 

This isn't what I expected.  Earlier visits like two weeks apiece had overwhelmed me with the freshness and variety and I expected everything to be better here.  Sorry, but it just isn't.  A lot of the food is lousy, most of all the tiệc cưới food.  I know a few places I like, and generally I go out for bình dân and avoid real restaurants.  There's usually someone smoking at them anyway.  It's not miserable here, even so-so food is very good, but, sorry, I could get better Vietnamese food in Seattle.

There are hit and miss food spots everywhere. I love Vietnamese food and its really the best here but I also say that I prefer places where I dont have to think twice when I eat veggies or drink Ice. We all know that the hygiene here is poor (people dont worry about getting ill??) and I have my favourite spots where I know its safe to eat. Im a street food lover and haven't had any problems yet but I know a handful of people who had.
There is a really good street food spot on the crossroads of Ton Duc Thang Street and Nguyen Huu Canh right opposite the sushibar & the techcombank. Its on the left side and serves amazing Bo Luc Lac (Shaken beef in Wineleaves served with Rice Vermicelli and Shrimp Pasta). Its very popular among locals and I would go there anytime:)

Getting sidetracked here, but have to agree with Chris about the quality of the local food. The Vietnamese restaurants in the US, like Houston, Fairfax, San Jose, not to mention Orange County far exceed the local restaurants here. I am only talking only about taste, not hygiene.

In particular, pho and banh mi.

This is a sensitive issue for the locals. They will attack you immediately when you say it. I have seen it many times both to myself and others. At one time, I was afraid that I was wrong since I had not tasted Vietnamese restaurants in US for some time, so I went to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant on my short visit in the US and went to a well-known Vietnamese restaurant upon return to Saigon. Same conclusion.

The locals would tell me because I did not know their best restaurants. I told them to list them up so I could visit. Even after having visited their recommendations, I don't see any reasons to change my conclusion.

One of the reasons is also the "local" taste here is different than the taste the Vietnamese has in the US. Take the Banh Mi. In Saigon, it is too soft (too much air), too much butter, while the baguettes in the US is closer to the French baguettes (firmer, crunchy) with better meat (thit quay/cha lua), condiments (dua chua)

Anatta wrote:

In particular, pho and banh mi.

She rings the bell.

The bánh mì in the USA: loaded with meat and veggies, nice mayonnaise or some other sauce, sourdough bread with some actual, you know, flavor .. one sandwich is a meal.  The ones from Saigon Deli in Seattle, $1.75-2.50, wonderful.  Lesser place down the street, not as good, six for $5, constant business.  Both way better than here, where they're small, tasteless, skimpy.  You can pay extra and get them stuffed better, of course, but unless you do what you get isn't remotely comparable.

Phở was the big surprise, being, after all, the national dish?  OK, it's ngow yawk haw fun with a better broth, granted.  Had variants of it in four different national forms.  Full disclosure: the worst I ever had was in the USA, broth like shoe polish, ghastly, clearly for non-Asian customers who knew no better.  Best I ever had, I mean by a mile, er, by a kilometer, was one of the five Phở Bắc places in Seattle, down off Martin Luther King, yellowish twists of noodle in a pungent broth so goddamn good you would drive an hour to buy it.  No phở here comes close.  Sorry.

Phở here tends to be just OK, the broth uninspiring, the meat badly cut with hunks of cartilege still attached.  OK, I know, people here like cartilege, but in the USA you could say "tai bò viên" or whatever and get the cuts you wanted. 

Phở is a big deal in the USA, very popular, and for a while I didn't think people even ate rice here, just noodle soup day in day out.  There are a lot of places making it and I've only seen one bad one.  The amazing thing is how many days in a row you can eat it without getting sick of it, it took me two weeks and it was the beef I got tired of; phở gà I could probably eat for months.  Especially with chicken broth (some places just toss chicken into beef broth).

Now I'm hungry.

Hi All,

Chris and Anatta, you two got me really hungry right. All the talk about USA having the best Vietnamese food work up my appetite. I bet you all the gastronomical chef in good old US of A make better vietnamese, or thai, or shall i say malaysian food, LOL. Missmae, i will try the bo luc lac what! shaken wine leaves beef, sounds interesting. Well, the chicken noodle soup at Mac Dinc Chi was really delicious. The broth is clear and the chicken is good size one not the chicken strips. The hot soup really suite the chill air we have in HCM these few days. Is good and at 25000d is just good value. Oh by the way this place you can order the chicken innards too.for their special at 35000d.

Best food I've had in VN, hands down, is at the Chợ Đêm Dương Đồng in Phú Quốc

That is a little far off Chris. You talking about the holiday island in the south. Maybe a trip for tet festival, but then again is it open? The Bun Bo Hue at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Mac Dinh Chi is very good. If you happen to be in the area and looking for a local fast food style noodle soup with pork and beef, this is the place to eat. Service is fast, staff is friendly although only one waitress speak English. Simple delicious and only two items, the basic and the special BBH.

Dannytan wrote:

That is a little far off Chris. You talking about the holiday island in the south. Maybe a trip for tet festival, but then again is it open? The Bun Bo Hue at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Mac Dinh Chi is very good. If you happen to be in the area and looking for a local fast food style noodle soup with pork and beef, this is the place to eat. Service is fast, staff is friendly although only one waitress speak English. Simple delicious and only two items, the basic and the special BBH.

It's part of Việt Nam, the food is Vietnamese, it counts.  It may be a tourist area but it's part of Kiên Giang Province.  It's open all year, we go there several times a year for land biz.  We own a nhà gỗ một tầng there too, out in Hàm Ninh. 

I've eaten in Malaysia (cuisine capitol of the world), Taiwan, Singapore, here ... and the best fried rice I've ever had anywhere was in that night market.  Again and again.  A place near the entrance on the right.  The kind of meal that would make it easier to peacefully embrace one's own death because you ate food this good before it happened.

I'll try to seek out the place you mentioned next time I go to Saigon.  If the English speaking waitress is out, well, I'm not fluent but I can manage a food order without getting a grilled tractor delivered to the table...

in malaysia especially in penang island, the street food is really good and have plenty to choose from. the cuisines are pretty unique from the diversity of the people.

Dannytan wrote:

in malaysia especially in penang island, the street food is really good and have plenty to choose from. the cuisines are pretty unique from the diversity of the people.

Malaysia is awesome.  You have Chinese, Malays, and Indians, all of whom have highly sophisticated cuisines, all looking over each others' shoulders and borrowing ideas and ingredients.  Go to a Malaysian food court and you'll have curry and chilis and soy sauce and yogurt in one meal.  You won't have nước mắm, through.

I'll never forget the day one Indonesian vendor, seeing me eating incandescent green and red chili, came out from behind his stall to my table and shook my hand.  Now that is some validation.

There is a Malaysian restaurant on Vo Van Tan call Banana Leaf. Even have a cook flipping making the roti chanai (bread) in front of the restaurant. There is a big pot of curry for the roti dip,spice of life. Anybody tried ?

Staying at alley of NTMK is really really convenient. Not too far away is a restaurant call NGON. I believe is on Pasteur. Is a must for foodies who come to Vietnam. The restaurant is fill with so many varieties of Vietnamese food all over the country. From North of hanoi to central and the southern cuisines. Not only you can smell and eat , you are able to see them cook as the kitchen is open style, well like street food but in a clean and formal atmosphere. This one is a die die die must go and try.

My favorite

I had mì xầu giòn hải sản at Longmonaco at BigC tonight and aside from the skimpy seafood it was comparable to the one I remember from the USA.

I will try the street food place at the ton thuc thang one day. Yes, I think USA has not only best Vietnam food with hygiene, i am pretty sure the best malaysian , thailand food also. mì xầu giòn hải sản, that is the crispy fried noodles with seafood, we have a version like that and is wet style not dry.
Well, if you thinking of turning green for a meal or a day (or life), and i mean eating vegetarian in hcm city, no problem at all. I think is because of a lot of Buddhist here. Near my place is a little hole in the wall vegetarian eating place call Com Chay Halo at NTMK. Is clean, cheap and its food not too salty and sugary. In the afternoon they serve a vegetarian buffet style where you can pick your items from about 15 different dishes. Or if you prefer the lady will pick for you and it cost 20000d. At night can order a choice of different different noodle dishes. So far so good , been here numerous times and always good.

I remember sitting in my sofa one day and appeared on TV is none other then the famous Anthony Bourdain on Food Channel. He was the hero in the food episode for 'No Reservation Vietnam'. He was eating as the camera roll, the pho, the com, the bahn mi all went down his gut like he is eating the whole of the mekong delta non stop. Now how can he kept his slim tall figure eating Vietnamese food and drinking beer. Well, could be the food itself, fresh and lots of vegetables that clean up his digestive pipes or perhaps he is a lucky son of a gun that just burn calories as he eat and talk. His episode on the ' Lunch Lady', the 'flying pots of rice' , the banh mi special that have everything but the kitchen sink, and numerous food recommendation just got my appetite going always and still is.

Hi Danny,

I can comment some nice restaurants there:

- The best i like: Hoa Viên Brauhaus  restaurant, they serve a lot kind of foods with very special beer ( but im amateur about beer or wine ) . 18Bis/28 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, D1 

- On Mac Dinh Chi Street , I like Al Fresco’s , 19-21 Mac Dinh Chi, Dist 1 .. Yummy also . I like  beefsteak  here, soft and nice taste. Here they serve western foods. If you walk far a bit in this road, you can try : Bready - Bánh Mỳ Tươi : 62 Mạc Đỉnh Chi, D 1. This one is cheap and ok also, special bready is so nice...You can buy only bready and brink back home also.

- Hồng Hạnh Restaurant - 17A Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, D 1. Here you can try local food, specially food from the middle of VN. Not sure you like or not but it is nice also ( i entered here when i was student, maybe 10 years ago, but now they still bussiness good )...cheap.

- Nem Restaurant 15E Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Dict 1. Here they serves foods ( North style of Vietnam ). I dont like Nem, but you can try bcz many people like Nem.

Yuli


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Hi Yuli,

I have tried Bready, Nem and Hoang Hanh at NTMK. Bready is clean and serve some western dishes. However their specialty is beef steak and seems quite popular among the locals. The specialty of Hoanh Hanh is their Banh Cuon and the owner family from Hue, must be originated from there.  I am not so sure about Nem bun cha ca dish. It is very clean with english menu and recommended by CNN. Their value is less compare with Quan An Hong on Mac Dinc Chi is better taste, well i think. One man food is the other poison. You can try, if you around the area, Quan An Hong has some good Hanoi dishes.

ciao'
danny

Hi Danny,

I just try to remember restaurants near ur area...    All of them, i just say i like Hoa Viên Brauhaus  restaurant & Al Fresco’s....Yummy. Btw, i dont like the north food too much.

Happy Tết

Yuli

Got you loud and clear Yuli, sure will keep in mind the two restaurants  Hoa Viên Brauhaus & Al Fresco’s. I am here for the local dishes that make your country so unique to the world. As ChrisFox mention the best vietnamese dishes he ever tasted is in America. The cuisine really put a lot of people beside here salivating for it. Even Anthony Bourdain the celebrity food chef, critics and writer came and love the food here. Speaking about the devil he made the 'Lunch Lady' at Hoang Sa famous when he visited and eating her street food noodles on TV. It is about 15 mins walk from here. Have you or anybody tried the famous 'LUNCH LADY'?

I like Al Fresco's also. 

Hi Ngoc,

Yes there are so many restaurants closeby in D1. I heard also that Al fresco got good review from Yuli and on the internet. However, Ciao Bella got good review and recommend to have better Pizza. I prefer the thick crust especially when hungry. Other people swear by the thin crust which is (to them) a better pizza. Everybody have their own opinion even the famous Anthony Bourdain recommendation of No. 25 So 1 Hanoi Pho Bo, but I think just a block down on NTMK has a better option. Pho Bo Than Binh has a heavier broth with really strong beef smell to it, and is really good.

I was passing by a restaurant call Khai Minh on Dien Bien Phu (not too far from hcm first ever McD  ), feeling hungry and went in to try. I look at their simple menu without english, and order the banh xeo. Although nobody but me, it took a little time before my lunch came.  Khai Minh serve up 5 or 6 small, soft and brownish ones with vegetables in it. No side vegetable and sauce or the normal Banh Xeo look a like. But as I dig into it, wow so natural flavor. Not much or no oil, it is soft and delicately delicious. No wonder it take so long, as I think the cook really make it with love. I am so surprise of the healthy food that I order a banh beo to go. Food is simple , organic, wholegrain, good, healthy, inexpensive (probably dirt cheap 20000d to 30000d for a dish) free tea. They serve red rice Com Phan, maybe using macrobiotic diet? probably first one in Vietnam. Anyone know others or heard about this restaurant.

Dannytan wrote:

Got you loud and clear Yuli, sure will keep in mind the two restaurants  Hoa Viên Brauhaus & Al Fresco’s. I am here for the local dishes that make your country so unique to the world. As ChrisFox mention the best vietnamese dishes he ever tasted is in America. The cuisine really put a lot of people beside here salivating for it. Even Anthony Bourdain the celebrity food chef, critics and writer came and love the food here. Speaking about the devil he made the 'Lunch Lady' at Hoang Sa famous when he visited and eating her street food noodles on TV. It is about 15 mins walk from here. Have you or anybody tried the famous 'LUNCH LADY'?

The street is pretty close to my place. It's the side street off Ng Thi Minh Khai before you cross the bridge Thi Nghe 1 (opposite the gym Yeu Kiet).
I drive there every day to get to work but since its early (around 7am) I didnt see her. It's also off  Hoang Sa in one of the alleys.
We should got there together:)

Sure missmae, let me know which day and time is good. In the morning the Lunch Lady will not be open as she does only Lunch crowd about 11am onwards. Also, each day she would have different type of noodle soup. You can PM me to meet up.